The Green Dean Team has been working on a project in conjunction with Castalia Homes to document the first LEED Certified and NAHB Certified green home built in Indiana.  A couple of weeks ago, Mark Jansen of Energy Effiecient Homes Midwest came by to perform an energy efficiency audit.  The audit consisted of a battery of tests to check to see if the home met the qualifying standards of the certification programs.  While you may not need to qualify for certification, your home and wallet could benefit from having a certified professional perform a blower door test.

A blower door test costs between $300-$500 to perform, but it can save you hundreds of dollars a year by measuring the airtightness of your home.  Everyone knows that air leakage can cause uncomfortable drafts in homes, but energy auditors have discovered that sealing air leaks is one of the simplest and least expensive ways to save energy in your home!

A typical house may lose about 1/3 of its heat through walls and ceilings, 1/3 through windows and doors, and 1/3 through air leakage.  Now it doesn't take a Mensa member to realize that you can help to eliminate heat loss through walls and ceilings with insulation and by installing energy efficient windows and doors that problem will be reduced.  But, where are those other pesky air leaks?  You can't fix what you can't see!  Aha, that is where the blower door test comes in!

The blower door is a powerful fan that mounts into the frame of an exterior door.  The fan pulls air out of the house, lowering the air pressure inside.  The higher outside pressure then flows in through all unsealed cracks and openings.  Those pesky air leaks can't hide any longer!  Your energy audit professional will then break out a very cool Fluke Infrared Camera that will show you exactly where all the problems are.  They will check your walls, roof, windows, doors, HVAC, insulation, sill plate and top plate (fancy construction terms) for problem areas.

The most important thing to remember is to think of your home as a team of systems!  Insulation is at 1st, HVAC is at 2nd, Windows is pitching and Doors is catching.  You want all of these systems to play well together!  As the ole' ball coach said, "We are only as strong as the weakest link!".  There is no sense in purchasing an energy efficient furnace if you have improper insulation!  For more information on blower door tests and how they can save you $$$, check out the U.S. Department of Energy.

Also, stay tuned for the video version on GreenDeanTV!